Finding Time With Routines And Schedules

I know how busy life gets and we all… ok, most us… feel like we need more time every now and then, right? Well, there are only 24 hours in a day and we can’t make more time no matter how hard we try so that means we just need to find ways to use our time more wisely.

First we need to get our priorities straight and make sure we are getting the things done that need to get done like feeding everyone and making sure they have clean clothes to wear. We should probably make sure we clean the house from time to time and if you homeschool you gotta have time for that too. Not to mention that there are so many other things like appointments, grocery shopping, and other obligations that happen everyday.

Sometimes it seems like there is no time left for the fun stuff but I promise that routines can help. I have written many a post about our routines here. Our routines help keep us running smoothly most of the time. The routines work when we follow them and sometimes we don’t but we quickly realize how much we need them. As soon as we get back on routine our lives get less chaotic.

I have included some pics and screenshots of our different routines and schedules below but please don’t think this is complicated. Ours are far more complicated than most as we have a lot of things going on here and I need these to keep myself and my household organized. Every family is different and every set of routines will be different What works for us may not work for you but feel free to use these as a guideline for setting up your own routines and/or schedules.

We have a morning routine that involves everyone getting up, making their beds, and having breakfast. My morning routine looks different than my kids’ routine because I am the adult. I know what needs to happen and I make sure they understand what needs to happen. By doing these same things everyday they learn their routine and it becomes natural for them. Do we forget things sometimes? Yes, we do. Some days I don’t look at my checklist and we forget. It doesn’t usually cause a lot of trouble as we catch it and correct whatever it was… like filling the water bottles or making tea. That doesn’t take too long to figure out that someone forgot to do those two things.

When we find something that isn’t getting done we add it to our routine checklist. Mr. joey is new to wearing glasses and he kept forgetting to put them on. As I check through my list every morning I can check to see if he has them on and remind him if has forgotten. We have very few days that he forgets now so maybe sometime in the future I can erase that from the list.

We also have a cleaning routine that we use for things that need to get done at least once a week:

There is another part to our cleaning routine that was once divided up daily but since we changed our routines around most od these are divided up between Mondays:

and Fridays:

Then we have our school routine or schedule that we use. For that we mostly stick to our Loop Schedule. This has been the easiest way for us to make sure we ‘get it all in’ as we do our school work. We have also had a school routine in the past. This month we changed up our school routine a little bit too which has helped out in so many ways.

In addition to morning, afternoon, and evening routines we also have monthly routines that include things like:

And then we have some yearly things that include things like:

and these:

and these:

I have went through the year and marked down a few things that need to get done at certain increments through the year or during certain seasons. That way we can get a start on things and hopefully not end up with a mountain of tasks that seems so overwhelming. I even went so far as to think back on the last year and things that we wished had turned out differently. These have been added to our routines and To-Do lists so that they can hopefully be taken care of beforehand to make this year even smoother than last year.

I also keep a running To-Do List of things I need to accomplish. This is worked into my morning routine. I try to dedicate 15-20 minutes every morning to a task or two on my To-Do list. Then when I have a big project I will try to divide it into smaller tasks or block off a chunk of time to work on it. To-Do lists are great for everyone as it can keep you focused on what needs done and it can teach children to focus on managing their own set of To-Dos which will help them out later on in life.

Getting back to the To-Do List I have also added a couple of tasks on the large calendar too. As you can see below I still have a few to finish before the end of the month.

Our calendar plays a big part in our schedules as it can get crazy keeping track of everything. With this many kids there are lots of appointments and activities. Plus when you add in our square dancing and such our schedules can get overfilled really quickly. I have color coded our calendar to show, at a glance, when we have appointments, holidays, birthdays, and other important activities.

Each of the kiddos has their own ‘assigned color’ so I can tell who the appointments are for even when I’m not close enough to read it. I really love the fact that I can use the same colors on our Cozi Calendar too. Every week I have been taking a few minutes to check my calendar and planner and update any changes. Address labels work really well when you need to ‘mark our’ something and write something else in its place.

Hopefully these few changes to our routines and schedules will continue to help us find more time for fun stuff as we spend less time running around in a panic trying to get things done at the last minute. Things should definitely be a lot less stressful around here too.

What routines and schedules have helped you the most in your home? What are some things you have on your To-Do list that you plan to tackly today?

Checks Unlimited Deals

Heating & Cooling

Tip Jar

If you like what you read or have found something useful perhaps you may want to leave a tip. Tips will be used to support our blog, our family, and our homeschooling mission and we would greatly appreciate it.
Thank You!

Follow Blog via Email

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 912 other followers

Archives

Archives

Blog Stats

18,068 hits

Affiliate Disclaimer

In 2015, the Federal Trade Commission released their new rules for Disclosure Compliance. These rules are set in place to ensure that readers or viewers of web media (blogs, Youtube videos, etc.) know if the blogger/presenter is sponsored, endorsed, or partnered with a different company. In blog terms, the readers need to know if the blogger is making money by sharing a link or product.

In compliance with the FTC guidelines, please assume the following about links and posts on this site: Any/all of the links Kirby’s Korner Blog are affiliate links of which I receive a small compensation from sales of certain items.

What are affiliate links?

Purchases are made on external affiliate company websites: When a reader clicks on an affiliate link located on .com to purchase an item, the reader buys the item from the seller directly (not from Kirby’s Korner Blog​). Amazon and/or other companies pay Kirby’s Korner Blog a small commission or other compensation for promoting their website or products through their affiliate program.

Prices are exactly the same for you if your purchase is through an affiliate link or a non-affiliate link. You will not pay more by clicking through to the link.

I use two main types of affiliate programs:

1. Amazon affiliate links.

Kirby’s Korner Blog is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon properties including, but not limited to, amazon.com. Amazon offers a small commission on products sold through their affiliate links. Each of your purchases via our Amazon affiliation links supports our cause at no additional cost to you.

If a blogger links to an Amazon product (with a special code for affiliates embedded in the link), and a reader places an item in their “shopping cart” through that link within 24 hours of clicking the link, the blogger gets a small percentage of the sale. Amazon links are not “pay per click.” If you click on the product link and stay around Amazon and purchase something else, however, I will get commission on that sale.

Anytime you see a link that looks like astore.com/… or amazon.com… it can be assumed that it is an Amazon affiliate link.

2. Product affiliate links.

These affiliate links work the same way: if you click the link and buy the product, then the blogger gets a percentage of the sale or some other type of compensation. Things like e-book bundles, e-courses, and online packages are usually affiliate links, as well. Again, prices are not different if you use these affiliate links. You will not pay more by clicking through to the link. These links are not “pay per click”, unless otherwise denoted.

What about sponsored content?

I do not normally write sponsored posts. I want to bring you real, unbiased information. However, if a post is sponsored by a company and it is a paid sponsorship, I will disclose this clearly in the beginning of the post.

**I will not support or promote any product or company that I would not use in my own home.

I am hoping that in time I will offer be able to offer some of our own products. You can also check under the ebooks tab for products that we currently have available.

Follow me on Twitter

Meet the Kirby’s

About Me:

First and foremost, I am a daughter of the King.​ I am also a slightly crazy, square dancing Momma with a houseful of babies (9 to be exact), a little bit of coffee, and a whole lot of Jesus!
I thank God for each and everyday He has given me and for the days ahead. I know we are not promised tomorrow and we need to cherish every minute of everyday we have here. We need to hold our loved ones close and make sure they know how much we love them and care for them.
I have been through a lot in my time here on earth and I know God is preparing me for a bigger plan. I do not know what His plan is for me and sometimes I don't understand. I know that I must keep my eyes on Him and keep my faith in His promises.
I am not perfect and I do not pretend to be. I am sinner saved by grace and I just want to bring honor and glory to His name. I pray that my blog will help to inspire others and that they may find hope and encouragement in knowing they are not alone in their battles.
Let us each strive to be a light to others in their darkness. That our light may lead others to Him and cause others to come to know Him. I pray that everyone who reads this may be touched by His loving hand and receive Him so that they may also be heirs to His glorious kingdom.